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MPP Student and Faculty Research

MPP students and faculty engage in interdisciplinary research teams that include scientists from a full range of relevant disciplines on pressing policy issues to address the most pressing concerns of the 21st century such as water conflict in a globalized economy, educational reform in the face of shrinking public resources, and the implementation of increasingly contentious technologies such as genetically modified crops, nanotechnology, sustainable rural communities, and renewable energy.

Many MPP students have participated in joint interdisciplinary research projects funded by grants. Recent examples include:

Current MPP graduate student and long-time American Fisheries Society member Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey recently helped craft a legislative briefing paper on the impacts of suction dredge mining on Oregon's fishes and aquatic habitats. He met with several key legislators to discuss the findings and the society's recommendations to help further minimize risk to fishes and habitats. The paper was read into testimony in a hearing last week and was partly responsible for helping the bill move out of committee (link to Oregonian article). Jeremiah will continue meeting with legislators and testifying at hearings as various suction dredge mining bills move through the Oregon legislature this session.

A joint Oregon Policy Analysis Laboratory and OSU Rural Studies Program research project led to the reauthorization and expansion of the nation's first Senior and Disabled Property Tax Deferral Program by the Oregon State Legislature in 2013. The purpose of the program is to defer property taxes and allow qualified seniors and the disabled to stay in their homes. MPP student Conor Wall and Professors Bruce Weber and Brent S. Steel presented the results of the Oregon Senior and Disabled Property Tax Deferral Study to the Oregon House of Representatives Revenue Committee and Oregon Senate Revenue Committee on March 22, 2013.

Rachel Erstad presented her paper "Friending and Following: Social Networking's Impact on Social Movements" at the 2012 Global Studies Conference in Victoria, B.C.

Carlos Algara presented his paper "Irrational Fear or Cause for Concern? The Effects of Hispanic Immigration on Violent Crime Rates in Tucson, Arizona" at the 2012 Pacific Sociological Meetings in San Diego, CA.

Second year MPP student Chrysanthemum Mattison attended the 37th annual Association for Education Finance and Policy conference in Boston, MA March 15-17, 2012 where she presented original research on voluntary contributions to California K-12 public schools. Among the 500 attendees were experts in the policy and education finance field along with policymakers, academics from around the world, graduate students, and K-12 and Higher Education professionals.

Suman Pant gave her paper "Trekkers and the Prints they Leave in the Himalayas: Tourism Impacting the sanitation of Local Communities" at the 2012 International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.